Sensex, Nifty Set To Open Lower On US Inflation Concerns

(RTTNews) - Indian shares look set to open notably lower on Monday as investors react to weak global cues, HDFC Bank earnings and the government's decision to hike windfall gain tax on domestically produced crude oil.

HDFC Bank on Saturday reported a 22.3 percent in its consolidated net profit for the September quarter because of healthy growth in net interest income and a decline in loan loss provisions.

Prominent companies that will unveil their earnings results this week include, ACC, Asian Paints, Axis Bank, Bajaj Finance, Bajaj FinServ, HDFC Asset Management Company, Hindustan Unilever, ICICI Bank, IndusInd Bank, ITC, JSW Steel, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Nestle India, Reliance Industries, SBI Life, Tata Consumer Products and UltraTech Cement.

The Central government has raised the windfall tax on crude oil by about 37 percent to Rs. 11,000 per ton as part of the fortnightly revision in the rate.

Asian markets were broadly lower this morning, while oil and gold prices traded higher on a softer dollar after Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged to continue accommodative policies for the economy.

U.S. stocks slumped Friday and bond yields spiked after a closely watched survey showed inflation expectations were increasing, adding to worries around the Fed's policy tightening.

Investors also reacted to a mixed bag of earnings results from large banks and the unchanged reading in retail sales last month.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite lost 3.1 percent to hit its lowest closing level in over two years while the Dow gave up 1.3 percent and the S&P 500 shed 2.4 percent.

European stocks closed higher on Friday after the British government announced a U-turn on certain elements of its controversial fiscal policies.

The pan European Stoxx 600 gained 0.6 percent. The German DAX rose 0.7 percent, France's CAC 40 index added 0.9 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 inched up 0.1 percent.